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School Prep

Friday was Team Stimey’s “Get Ready for School Day!” And in case you’re thinking I waited until the last second to get ready for school, you’re right. School starts Monday. (For Sam and Jack. Quinn has to wait until next Tuesday. Sigh.)

Our first stop on Friday was Target. School supply lists in hand, we waded through the by now depleted and disorganized school supplies. (Sorry, Jack’s teacher. There were no more 1-inch red folders. Maroon will have to do. It’s kinda red.)

After doing all the complaining in the past about the lists, it was odd that my first response to the shortened list was remorse. Because now the teachers are going to have to buy those things that didn’t make the list. After seeing Sam and Jack’s teachers last year run out of soap and paper, I made sure to buy everything on the donation list that was still in stock at Target. (Sorry about the lack of hand sanitizer. It was all gone from the shelves. Hope swine flu doesn’t hit our school.)

We made it home from Target with about an hour to spare before our school’s open house, which is when the kids get to go in and see their classrooms and meet their teachers. About ten minutes before we left for the school, the sky opened up and it started to pour rain. I had to use an umbrella to get from our house to the car in the driveway. It was really bad. Quinn disappeared for a couple minutes and reappeared holding his parka that he had dug out of the winter coat box.

Then we were off. Of course because there were eleventy billion families at the school, we had to park down the street and around the corner. Then I had to wrestle my three kids, my purse, my four bags of school supplies, and my camera under two umbrellas and slosh my way down to the school.

Once we were there, things went well. Jack liked his classroom and gave his teacher, Mrs. P, several big hugs. His desk is right by hers and right across from his friend T.

See? Parka.

Sam nerded it up right away by retreating to the reading corner and finding a book while Quinn and Jack partook of the snacks Mrs. P had set out.

Neeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrdddd!

Then we went to Sam’s class, which is on the second floor of the school. Who knew there was a second floor of the school?

Sam barely noticed his desk or his teacher or the room. He went immediately to the reading corner and found a book. This time he had a friend.

Neeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrddddsss!

I love having readers.

Well, Sam finally met his teacher and looked at his desk.

Oh. Right.

Then we wandered around the school and said hi to the specials teachers. I was on such a high from my Thursday conference and how well things had gone in the new classrooms that I almost forgot to be nervous about school.

Then, while we were in the music room, Jack climbed onto a chair and jumped down, grabbing the flag on the way, nearly resulting in mass breakage and chaos. And I remembered why I’m worried about school.

Plus, whereas last year he just had to walk from the car straight over to the kindergarten playground (about 30 feet) at morning drop-off, this year he has to walk all the way down the length of the school and then find his class line among the many, many classes lined up on the basketball court. We did a dry run at open house, but it will be really different on Monday.

I’m really worried about morning line up. Sam will be with him, but I don’t want to put too much responsibility on him. That’s not fair. But I don’t want Jack to meander away from school because no one is watching him either. I’m not quite sure what to do. I’m almost considering putting him on the bus in the morning, because someone will be in charge of the kids on the special ed bus.

But then again, he has a great team. And they’re going to help him. And they’re going to help me. And we’re going to help them. And I was totally stressed about summer school and it went great. So I don’t really know what’s going to happen. I’m just going to cross my fingers, keep my faith in my amazing kids, and wait to see what the future brings.

11 thoughts on “School Prep”

Ahh… I would go back and find some hand sanitizer to send in. I teach middle school and normally abhor the stuff because I think it creates superbugs, BUT our county health department has stated that it is actually effective in killing the H1N1 virus, so I coat my kids’ hands with it before lunch every day. Better safe.

In our school, the school has to provide all of the required materials, including pencils, glue sticks, etc. Let’s hope it’s the same for your school. They even use the same hand-sanitizer school-wide.

I donate tons of tissues, knowing how many my kids use, and extra snacks, knowing that many children will have nothing.

I am so confused by our kids’ supply lists. We get ONE list at the end of the school year with report cards. Then we get (or: don’t get) a list from the individual teachers at the end of the summer or at the beginning of the school year. So some years I’ve bought tons and had the teacher say, “Oh…we don’t actually need any of that.” Other years I say “SCREW THIS” and I buy only a few things, and it turns out they DO need the other stuff and I have to go find it somehow. OMG.

Furthermore, the list says several times that everything is RECOMMENDED not REQUIRED. Several times, it says this. What does that…mean?

I hope that everything goes well on Monday and look forward to the first day of school update!

And about the hand sanitizer….Just send some in when you pick some up on your next Target run. Teachers always have tons of stuff at the beginning of the year but then in February, the well runs dry and they need a new infusion of donations when cold/flu/Swine Flue season is in full swing!

It’s funny how our supply list has evolved over the years. Now I worry about the obscure textbook coming from Amazon.com in time, the new printer isn’t working, and we need to drive a desk chair to Albany. And yes, lots of hand sanitizer.

I completely understand the nervousness thing. We are holding our breath over here. So far, there is excitement (huge improvment over last year), mixed with a bit of anxiety. We can all cross our fingers together!!

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Stimey believes rodents are funny, autism may be different than you think, and that if you have a choice between laughing and crying, you should always try to laugh—although sometimes you may have to do both.